WATCH: Massive gator chomps 10-foot python like chew toy

Wednesday

Feb 20, 2019 at 2:25 PMFeb 20, 2019 at 2:25 PM

Invasive species often have the upper hand in the battle for the Florida Everglades.

The massive American alligator in this video is having none of it.

Rich Kruger, who posted the video this week, was bicycling on the Shark Valley Trail in Everglades National Park on Monday when he witnessed the epic battle between an invasive Burmese python and the alligator.

Florida has been working to reduce the python population in the Everglades, but hunting by man has been confined mostly to land owned by the South Florida Water Management District.

Nearly 2,000 pythons have been killed in a 2-year-old district program that pays hunters minimum wage plus bonuses based on snake length.

“Every python removed from the system gives native animals down there a fighting chance,” said Mike Kirkland, a SFWMD scientist and project manager for its python elimination program. “Our program is the most successful management tool to date, but it’s just one tool in a large toolbox.”

Last year, Everglades National Park announced it would partner with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to remove pythons from within the park.

A planned expansion was expected to triple the number of hunters in the park from 40 to 120, and allow FWC contractors to use firearms or “other humane” methods to euthanize the pythons.

It was unknown this morning the status of that program, which hadn’t been finalized by mid-summer.

While research has improved knowledge of the python population, eliminating pythons using current technology is impossible, park officials said last year.

Search and removal by trained individuals remains the best method to remove pythons. The park used volunteers for removal in the past, and while it will continue to do so, the addition of FWC contractors will allow greater numbers of skilled people to engage in removals than ever before.

“While hunting remains prohibited by law in Everglades National Park, we believe the expansion of the program to include allowing FWC contractors to remove pythons in the park will be welcomed by concerned citizens that want to play a role in helping with this significant problem,” said Everglades National Park Superintendent Pedro Ramos in a 2018 press release.